Naim Audio Forum Archive

Posted on: 24 April 2015 by ChrisSU

Every so often the price of copper is thrown in as a factor in pricing. There cannot be more than a few pounds worth of copper in any Naim gear, so even if it doubled in price overnight the effect would be negligible. Manufacturing, R&D, marketing, energy....that's what costs money, not copper at a few pounds per kilo.

Posted on: 25 April 2015 by joerand

Originally Posted by ChrisSU:

There cannot be more than a few pounds worth of copper in any Naim gear

Interesting. Maybe someone else places your Naim gear on your rack for you. Holding it, I can tell immediately on which side the transformer resides. Or maybe I'm mistaken thinking that transformers, even in Naim CDPs are wound with a heft of copper wire. More than a few pounds. The primary material cost of NACA5 must be in the copper; it can't be in the sheathing, though I agree that manufacturing, marketing and R&D figure significantly into the price.

Posted on: 26 April 2015 by George Johnson

Has anyone taken a scrap copper-wound motor or transformer to the metal recyclers lately. Even scrap copper [which then has to be recovered from casework and insulation] is worth an awful lot more than pocket money!

The other day I took nearly £2000's worth in one load ...

Even small quantities of scrap copper piping are worth stripping from brass taps and unions to obtain top dollar ...

That is why thieves are prepared to wreck electrical substations at risk of death to get the scrap value of the copper, though fortunately this has been clamped down on heavily with a requirement to identify oneself when selling scrap copper, and other scrap metals. And payment via cheque, which is easily traced if there is any criminal investigation ...

ATB from George

Posted on: 26 April 2015 by MikeT.

Originally Posted by Polarbear:

Originally Posted by steven2907:

Why?!?! There's no VAT increase, why 4%. Are the workforce getting a 4% wage increase?, no increase in inflation

is it just habit.

Have you heard about the increasing costs of raw materials these days?

Many companies will cover the increases in raw materials and labor simply by introducing a new model regularly, replacing each model in their line up every 12 months, making products more cheaply by using fewer discrete components or adding sales volume through new distribution. Naim does little of the aforementioned. A smallish company with a relatively stable product portfolio, Naim is in a difficult situation.

Originally Posted by joerand:

The price of copper has decreased by more than 20% from its 2014 high. The price of crude oil, the fuel for extraction, refinement, and shipment of raw materials has dropped nearly in half during the past year. Perhaps there is a lag effect to market. Should we expect a concurrent price reduction in gear next year? I guess demand/sales could be the arbiter. Maybe folks will say enough is enough and stand pat with their existing gear or open their wallets to other brands.

It's been my experience that companies rarely reduce pricing until customers stop paying their price.

Consumers also expect companies to keep prices stable during difficult times. We're a fickle lot.

Posted on: 28 April 2015 by nap90

Euro has fallen like a stone in the last couple of months- 1gbp was 1€15 in february, it's like 1€38 now...

Posted on: 29 April 2015 by Aleg

Originally Posted by nap90:

Euro has fallen like a stone in the last couple of months- 1gbp was 1€15 in february, it's like 1€38 now...

That's to stimulate export, ............ at the expense of the inhabitants.

Posted on: 29 April 2015 by winkyincanada

Originally Posted by joerand:

Originally Posted by ChrisSU:

There cannot be more than a few pounds worth of copper in any Naim gear

Interesting. Maybe someone else places your Naim gear on your rack for you. Holding it, I can tell immediately on which side the transformer resides. Or maybe I'm mistaken thinking that transformers, even in Naim CDPs are wound with a heft of copper wire. More than a few pounds. The primary material cost of NACA5 must be in the copper; it can't be in the sheathing, though I agree that manufacturing, marketing and R&D figure significantly into the price.

Refined copper is about GBP1.50 per pound. That cost accounts for a small fraction of the cost of HiFi components even ones like NACA5 that are just about all copper.

Posted on: 29 April 2015 by ChrisSU

Originally Posted by winkyincanada:

Originally Posted by joerand:

Originally Posted by ChrisSU:

There cannot be more than a few pounds worth of copper in any Naim gear

Interesting. Maybe someone else places your Naim gear on your rack for you. Holding it, I can tell immediately on which side the transformer resides. Or maybe I'm mistaken thinking that transformers, even in Naim CDPs are wound with a heft of copper wire. More than a few pounds. The primary material cost of NACA5 must be in the copper; it can't be in the sheathing, though I agree that manufacturing, marketing and R&D figure significantly into the price.

Refined copper is about GBP1.50 per pound. That cost accounts for a small fraction of the cost of HiFi components even ones like NACA5 that are just about all copper.

Exactly my point - besides which, the price of copper has been on a downward trend for the last 4 years, so why aren't the prices of those heavy black boxes plummeting?

Posted on: 29 April 2015 by Iconoclast

My XS 2 is listing for $700 than I paid for it when it first came out. Weakening Canadian dollar? Maybe.

On the other hand a Canadian company like Simaudio are favoring and basing their prices on foreign (Asian, Saudi, etc) markets because they are willing/capable of paying.

As it is my salary is almost frozen, not even following the cost of living index. Union is threatening a strike, employer won't budge.

We are then told to avoid buying Chi-fi as it's detrimental to local economy (manufacturers, distributors, retailers...)

It's a vicious circle. Thank you global economy architects.

Naim price increase.

Posted by: steven2907 on 26 March 2015